Isaac da Costa

Who was Isaac da Costa?

Isaac da Costa was a Jewish poet.

Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jew, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a prominent merchant in the city of Amsterdam; his mother, Rebecca Ricardo, was a near relative of the English political economist David Ricardo. Daniel da Costa, soon recognizing his son's love for study, destined him for the bar, and sent him to the Latin school from 1806 to 1811. Here Isaac wrote his first verses. Through his Hebrew teacher, the mathematician and Hebraist Moses Lemans, he became acquainted with the great Dutch poet Bilderdijk, who, at the request of Isaac's father, agreed to supervise the boy's further education. Bilderdijk taught him Roman law, and a familiar intercourse sprang up between them, which afterward developed into an intimate friendship.

In 1817 Da Costa went to Leyden, where he again saw much of Bilderdijk. He there took his degree as doctor of law in 1818, and as doctor of philosophy June 21, 1821. Three weeks later he married his cousin, Hannah Belmonte, who had been educated in a Christian institution; and soon after, at the instance of Bilderdijk, he was baptized with her at Leyden. At that time he was already well known as a poet. After Bilderdijk's death Da Costa was generally recognized as his successor among Dutch poets. He was a faithful adherent of the religious views of his friend, was one of the leaders of the Orthodox Reformed party, and during the last years of his life was a teacher and a director of the seminary of the Independent Scotch Church. However severely his religious views and efforts be censured, his character, no less than his genius, was respected by his contemporaries. Although he wrote much on missionary matters, he is distinguished from many other converts in that, to the end of his life, he felt only reverence and love for his former coreligionists, was deeply interested in their history, and often took their part.